Star plate folders
The Star are Japanese plate folders made and sold by Ueda Shashinki-ten in the late 1900s and early 1910s. Ueda Shashinki-ten is mentioned as the manufacturer (製作所) in an advertisement reproduced in this page at R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha (around the middle). Date: , item 1245, and , p.943, say 1911 but the Star Premo appears in the price list by Ueda Shashinki-ten dated April 1908 reproduced at the bottom of the same page at R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha. Original documents An advertisement by Ueda Shashinki-ten presents the Star Premo and Star Poco cameras. Advertisement reproduced in this page at R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha (around the middle). The Star Premo is mentioned in (8×12cm) and (12×16.5cm) formats. The format of the Star Poco is not given, but one source says that it is -size (8×10.5cm). Star Poco in -size: Lewis, p.27. The following models are listed in the advertisement: * Star Poco, RR lens, Simple Auto shutter, ¥15; * Star Premo No.2, -size, RR lens, Simple Auto shutter, ¥28; * Star Premo No.3, -size, RR lens, Simple Auto shutter, ¥35; * Star Premo No.4, -size, vertical and horizontal movements, RR lens, Double Auto shutter, ¥43; * Star Premo No.4, -size, vertical and horizontal movements, RR lens, Double Auto shutter, ¥65. The camera was supplied with a case and three double-sided plate holders. The names were obviously reminiscent of the Premo and Poco made by the Rochester company, and the Ueda cameras were perhaps made under license instead of merely copied on their Western equivalents. From the end of the XIXth century, a camera called "Star Premo" was made in the US by Rochester itself, and continued from 1907 by the Rochester division of Kodak. , pp.516 and 842, and advertisement dated 1904 reproduced at the Ad Art Gallery. A Star Premo dated 1893–4 used by Edith Irvine is shown in Edith's Cameras. The illustration shows a Star Premo No.4, recognized by the movement ability. It has double extension bellows, probably driven by a small wheel on the photographer's right. The straight folding struts are maintained in position by a screw. The front standard consists of various parts assembled to form a rectangle, and allows vertical and horizontal movements. The brilliant finder is attached to the folding bed on the photographer's right, and has a small hood. The camera looks very much like the Rochester Pony Premo, and the Sakura Prano sold by Konishi at the same period is very similar too. The April 1908 catalogue by Ueda Shashinki-ten mentions the Star Premo in two formats: (8×10.5cm) and (8×12cm). Catalogue extract reproduced in this page at R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha (around the middle). Both have an Auto shutter, certainly by Wollensak, a Planatograph lens by Bausch & Lomb, nickel-plated metal parts and a case. The name "Auto" is inferred from the katakana ヲート (wōto). The name "Planatograph" is written プラトナグラフ (puratonagurafu) with a typo. Other mentions Lewis also mentions a Star camera in -size (8×10.5cm) patterned after the Goerz Manufoc-Tenax, a postcard-size (8×14cm) camera and a 5×7in camera. Lewis, p.27. It however seems that 5×7in format was not used in Japan at the time, and the larger model is perhaps actually a -size (4¾×6½″, approx. 12×16.5cm) camera, maybe corresponding to the Star Premo No.4. The only surviving example of a Star plate folder observed so far is pictured in . , item 1245. It reportedly takes -size (8×10.5cm) pictures. It shows some differences from the model pictured in the advertisement cited above, and was certainly made some years later. It seems to have single extension bellows only, driven by a small wheel on the photographer's right. The front standard allows vertical and horizontal movements, and is very similar to that of the original Lily Portable Camera or of the Pocket Idea A1. The brilliant finder is perched atop the left-hand branch of the front standard. There is a leather handle above the main body, and an oval nameplate is attached to the left side. The particular example reportedly has a Bausch & Lomb shutter (1–100, B, T) and an Aldis Anastigmat f/7.7 lens. , item 1245. Notes Bibliography * P.27. * P.943. * Item 1245. Links In Japanese: * Page about the Sakura Prano in the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website, showing an advertisement for the Star Premo and Star Poco (in the middle of the page, above the Rochester advertisements), and an extract of the April 1908 catalogue by Ueda Shashinki-ten (at the bottom of the page) Category: Japanese 8x10.5 folding Category: Japanese 8x12 folding Category: Japanese 8x14 folding Category: Japanese 12x16.5 folding Category: S Category: 1906-1910 Category: 1911-1914